


about abbey

by bloooie



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Angst, a freaking ghost au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:01:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28360575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloooie/pseuds/bloooie
Summary: A tale of turntables and promises, and an undying love for the things that just aren't meant to be.
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Kang Seulgi
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23





	about abbey

**_I heard that there's a new tteokbokki  
place near your office building. You wanna   
check it out? My treat. _ **

Joohyun sighs after reading the message, her steady exhale causing a small cloud of vapor to come out of her mouth due to the cold.

Seungwan had been trying to get her attention for weeks now, and it was beginning to make her feel a little uncomfortable. 

She honestly doesn't get why the girl even bothers asking her anymore. It was already a 'no' then, and it's still going to be a 'no' now. 

_Especially_ now. 

She shoves the phone back in her coat pocket and gingerly bends down, her dark brown eyes settling on the new arrangement in front her. 

Fresh blue tulips sat on top of the smooth granite, its graceful display comically overshadowing the bouquet of daisies that she had left the day before. 

Joohyun's not surprised. It was like this every day.

"Someone's got an admirer." She chuckles into the wind. 

  
The cool October breeze blows past her as she sets aside yesterday's daisies and replaces them with a new batch that she had handpicked from their greenhouse earlier that morning. 

She wasn't always fond of daisies, if she was being honest, but the girl she loved absolutely adored them. So, Joohyun grew to love them, too.

...and maybe even more. 

There's a thoughtful smile on her lips as her fingers trace the letters of gold engraved on the granite surface. 

_In loving memory of  
 **KANG SEULGI**_

  
_Daughter, friend, and the most amazing wife.  
"Here comes the sun, little darling." _

Joohyun sighs. It's been three weeks.

Three weeks since Seulgi had passed. 

Three weeks of unbridled grief from the lives she had graciously been a part of. 

Three weeks since Joohyun lost the girl of her dreams. 

  
She still remembers what the sky looked like that day, a mix of orange hues and shades of pink that spread vibrantly across the horizon.

The sun had just set.

And it was beautiful. 

She still remembers what color Yeri's clothes were when the girl came barrelling into her arms, tears streaming down her face as she let out sob after sob, soaking Joohyun's favorite red sweater that Seulgi had given her on their second anniversary.

She still remembers the numbness she felt when two police officers showed up right behind the girl, their voices firm and direct as they relayed the bad news. 

  
There was an accident,

  
and her wife... 

_...her wife didn't make it._

Joohyun felt like she was falling. Her whole body sinking into the unforgiving depths of the abyss as her heart shattered into a million pieces. 

_No._

  
_It couldn't be._

Seulgi had so much to live for.

She was kind, compassionate, and so, _so_ dearly loved. Out of all the godforsaken people in the world, why did it have to be _her_? 

  
Her beautiful, _beautiful_ Seulgi.

Joohyun wiped an involuntary tear from the side of her face as she stared longingly at the sky above her. Why was she even crying? 

It was alright now.

The storm had already passed. 

And she's alright. 

_She's alright._

•••

By the time Joohyun had gotten back to the house, it was already nearing 7 o'clock in the evening. 

The children of the town were all dressed up, roaming the streets with their parents and friends as they knocked on strangers' doors, asking for sweets. She didn't really mind the light traffic, though. It was Halloween. Seulgi's favorite holiday.

She slips off her shoes and enters the household, thoughtfully taking note of the empty candy bowls outside their front door. It seems that she may have underestimated the amount of kids that Seulgi used to entertain with chocolate bars and skittles. 

"Max?" Joohyun calls out as soon as she sets her keys on the living room table. "Where are you, baby?"

Loud, eager footsteps padded towards her direction just as she was about to remove her coat, and before Joohyun knew it, she was tackled to the ground by an enthusiastic golden retriever. 

"Easy, boy." She says in between giggles. 

The two-foot-tall canine was clearly having fun licking up the entirety of her face. It was a good thing that she didn’t put much make-up on before she left the office earlier. Otherwise, the two of them might have had to pay the veterinarian on the other side of town an unexpected visit. 

"Get off of me, you big lug. Your breath stinks." 

She protests weakly, not really making any move to stand up—much to Max's delight. 

In all honesty, she actually loves that she still gets her sloppy welcome kisses whenever she comes home. Seulgi got her way too used to the affection when she was still alive—pulling her in and peppering her face with kisses the moment she walks through the front door.

She was grateful she still had Max. 

He may sniff people's butts all day and occasionally smell like wet socks, but he was arguably the best thing in Joohyun's life right now. 

She wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. 

  
They stayed like that for a while, wrestling around on the wooden floorboards until Joohyun's phone began to ring. 

  
It was Seungwan again. 

Joohyun sighs. "You just don't give up, do you?" She whispers softly. 

Figuring that the girl was only going to keep calling her if she were to ignore her again, Joohyun reluctantly presses her thumb on the green button and answers the call. 

"Hey, Wan." She steadily breathes out. 

" _Unnie! You answered..._ " The girl says on the other line, seemingly sounding more relieved than she was surprised, causing Joohyun to chuckle. 

The raven-haired girl finally nudges Max out of the way and moves to stand up, jogging towards the direction of the kitchen to refill Seulgi's pumpkin-shaped candy bowls. The golden retriever follows after her, tail wagging wildly in excitement after having waited all day for his owner to arrive.

If her wife were still here, she'd have never let the bowls run out of sweets for the shy kids to take.

Seulgi's learned in the past few years that some kids were far too sheepish to rap their knuckles against stranger's doors, feet lingering a little too long on the sidewalk before eventually walking away with their heads hung low. 

  
Joohyun still remembers the pride she felt in her chest when she woke up one day to Seulgi in the backyard, eyebrows knit together in concentration as she repeatedly struck a hammer onto two slender pieces of wood. Apparently, her wife was building some kind of wooden table that she plans on situating in the front yard for Halloween.

Seulgi wasn’t exactly skillful when it came to carpentry—this much was obvious by the looks of the horribly disfigured object in front of her—but she really tried her best to make it easier for the kids of the neighborhood, and that was enough to make the raven-haired girl's heart swell in absolute admiration. 

Joohyun kissed her square on the mouth that morning.

Right after the younger girl hesitantly showed her the swelling purple thumb on her calloused left hand.

See, she wasn't really one to believe in the so-called patterns of the universe. But, every time that Seulgi flashed her a toothy grin between those fluffy round cheeks, Joohyun just couldn't help but think that she really must've saved the world in her past life for her to be able to love someone as perfect as Kangi Seulgi in this lifetime. 

"Yeah, I just got home." Joohyun replies, standing on her tiptoes to reach for the bags of candy bars Seulgi had stacked up specifically for the night. "Did you need anything?" 

“ _Actually, I…_ ” 

There’s a tug at her jeans just as she was about to round the kitchen island. Joohyun looks down to see Max eagerly coaxing her to move to the other room, his eyes glistening in the light as he pushes her towards the direction of the study. 

A fond smile stretches across Joohyun's lips as she crouches down next to him. “In a minute, baby.” Joohyun coos, lovingly scratching the bottom of his chin before she saunters back into the living room. 

She couldn’t wait to enter the study, herself, but her wife’s traditional candy bowls needed to be returned to their respective places first, before anything else. 

“Sorry, Wan. You were saying?” 

“ _Oh. I was just wondering if you’d like to grab dinner with me later._ ” Seungwan nervously reiterates. “ _There’s a new tteokbokki place not far from here. I can pick you up?_ ” 

Joohyun holds back a sigh as she walks towards Seulgi’s crooked wooden table near the fence. 

As tempting as the offer sounds, she really just can’t bring herself to say ‘yes’, knowing full well that the girl’s intentions weren’t exactly as friendly as before. Seungwan’s a good friend, and it breaks her heart to watch the blonde pine over someone who can never reciprocate her feelings.

It breaks her heart even more to know that that person was herself. 

  
She closes the front door shut and chuckles when Max practically drags her towards the study, not even giving her the time to put on her indoor slippers before he was pulling at her jeans again. 

Joohyun can’t believe that she actually used to hate dogs for the majority of her life. 

  
“I don’t really feel like going out, Seungwan.” She mumbles on the phone, flicking on the lightswitch in the room before she's moving again to close the blinds. “The streets are packed tonight.” 

A plethora of picture frames and paintings adorned the peanut-colored walls as the lights flickered open, giving a homey atmosphere to the otherwise stereotypically boring work room. 

She and Seulgi had decorated the room themselves when they first moved in, filling the then empty space with their favourite belongings and a few random stuff that they’d bought on impulse from an online Christmas sale back in 2017.

Among other things, Joohyun had her typewriter on one side and Seulgi had her turntable on the other, showcasing their love for the things on different sides of the same spectrum.

 _Old souls_ , she recalls Seungwan teasing them back in college—lovers of things that have been made irrelevant by time, but somehow found a place in the corners of their contemporary hearts. 

  
The raven-haired girl smiles once she spots Max waiting for her on the other end of the room, running in circles as he barks for her attention by the wooden desk. She shakes her head in amusement before walking towards him with her phone sandwiched between her shoulder and left ear.

It was time. 

“ _Well, how about I come over?_ ” Seungwan asks on the other line. " _I_ _can always cook for you, if you’d like."_

“Not tonight, Wan. I’ve got a lot of work to turn in tomorrow.” She half-heartedly replies, eyebrows knit together as she thumbs through her wife’s impressive collection of vinyls on the white ladder shelf by the door. “The studio’s packed this month because of all the photoshoots for fall. Maybe next time.” 

Joohyun's eyes light up once she spots the faded blue cover of the record she's been looking for. The legendary image of four men in suits crossing the street in St. John's Wood in London giving her immense joy just at the sight of it.

"Abbey Road." She quietly breathes out. 

Max follows eagerly after her as she pads towards the direction of the turntable, his tongue sticking out in anticipation as he watches the thin record slowly begin to spin and music start to fill the room. Joohyun chuckles. 

  
_Here come old flat top_

_He come grooving up slowly_

_He got joo joo eyeball_

_He one holy roller_

_He got hair down to his knee_

_Got to be a joker he just do what he please_

  
A gust of cold wind sweeps her hair back as she walks out of the study to prepare another bowl of sweets. If the incessant knocking on their front door was any indication, she’d say that she had a few trick-or-treaters on the other side of the door that needed attending to. 

  
“I’ll be right back.” She mumbles under her breath, snubbing the sudden mist slowly enveloping their surroundings as the turntable's volume gradually increases to its maximum by itself. 

It doesn’t come as a surprise to her when Max doesn’t follow her out of the room this time.

“ _You said that yesterday, unnie._ ” Seungwan sighs. She can only imagine the girl pinching the bridge of her nose as she tries her best to contain her disappointment. “ _But, I understand. Just…call me if you need anything, alright?_ ” 

Joohyun's features soften when she hears the sincerity in the girl's voice.

She really didn't want things to be this way. 

_He wear no shoe-shine_

_He got toe-jam football_

_He got monkey fingers_

_He shoot Coca-Cola_

_He say, "I know you, you know me"_

_One thing I can tell you is you got to be free_

“Yes, ma’am. You have my word.” She mutters into the phone softly, waving goodbye to the platoon of little vampires that had just vacated her front porch as she lingers a little by the steps.

She waits patiently for their tiny feet to cross the street before turning around and slipping back inside the house. 

The music's a little louder now and she can faintly hear Max barking in the other room, accompanied by someone's familiar bubbly laughter that sends pleasant shivers down her spine. 

“I've got to go now, Wan. I'm afraid that the pictures on my camera aren't going to develop themselves." She jests lightly, rubbing a warm hand over her sleeve out of habit. "I’ll talk to you soon, okay?” 

  
The blonde hums on the other line, reluctantly accepting tonight’s defeat.

Tomorrow’s another day, she guesses. 

“ _Okay, unnie. Have a good night._ ”

“You, too, Wan. Take care.” Joohyun replies before finally hanging up the call. 

She stares mindlessly at the device in her hand, screen slowly fading to black as she lets her head fall back against the cold oak behind her. 

Joohyun hates that she has to have this conversation over and over again. 

She had first met Seungwan in college. They shared two minor classes together in her sophomore year and Joohyun can say that the girl was the epitome of sunshine. Seungwan literally brightened up every room that she walked in—effortlessly making people laugh and putting smiles on their faces alongside her best friend, Seulgi.

The two were dynamite. 

Joohyun had always admired the duo's friendship even before she got properly acquainted with them. They were quite popular around campus, Joohyun recalls, _the springtime soulmates_. Always radiating warmth and comfort even in the coldest nights of winter, with a bottle of beer and a good story on the tips of their tongues for every person who needed the company. 

In everything that they did, it was always Seulgi and Seungwan. 

Joohyun still remembers the day Seungwan introduced Seulgi to her, the blonde's mischievous antics leading up to a paint-stained shirt, an angry professor, and the best thing that ever happened to Joohyun's life.

She still remembers the first time Seulgi asked her out. The younger girl tapping frantically on her dorm room window as Seungwan stood wobbly on top of a pile of broken chairs, her shoulders aching at the sheer weight of her best friend on top of her that was so lovestruck she couldn't even say 'hi'. 

And Joohyun also remembers the day of Seulgi's funeral. The bittersweet beauty of the blue and grey sky above them, and the heart-wrenching sound of Seungwan wailing her heart out as Seulgi's coffin descended into the ground. 

Joohyun may have lost her greatest love,

but, Seungwan lost the other half of her soul. 

"You're later than usual." A voice speaks up from across the room, its familiar husk causing the corners of Joohyun's lips to turn upwards in a childlike smile. 

_There she is._

"Should I call Sooyoung and file for a divorce?" The voice adds teasingly, causing the raven-haired girl to forget about her Seungwan problems for a while. "You know I don't like sharing what's mine." 

Joohyun lifts her head up and glances ahead, eyes tracing over the translucent figure of a woman standing next to Max by the dimly lit hallway, her smile blinding as she sends a playful wink Joohyun's way. 

_God, she's beautiful._

The girl was wearing an off white blouse and jeans underneath a long black trench coat, looking exactly the way she did when she walked out the front door on the morning of October 12th.

The only noticeable difference this time was the tiny yellow handprints on the bottom her jeans, and if one were to look a little closer, the short trail of dried up crimson on the side of her head. 

The latter was an ugly reminder of their life's horrible fate, but Joohyun honestly couldn't care less because even in that heartbreaking state, Seulgi's still the most beautiful girl she had ever laid eyes on. 

Joohyun shakes her head in amusement. "Go ahead," The raven-haired girl humors, arms crossed loosely against her chest as she straightens her back flat against the front door. "but, know that I'm taking Max with me." 

The other girl chuckles. " _Please._ My son won't pick you over me, Mrs. Kang. I raised him." 

Joohyun's heart swells in her chest. It's been about four years since she and Seulgi tied the knot, but she still gets butterflies every time someone calls her Mrs. Kang. 

"You wanna bet?" She challenges. 

Seulgi narrows her eyes at her and smiles. "You're on." She confidently exclaims, crouching down to be at eye level with her trusty golden retriever. "Let's show thi—hey!" 

The younger girl watches in disbelief as Max marches happily towards the direction of the raven-haired girl, his tail wagging from left to right as the latter scratches the spot under his furry chin. 

"Traitor." Seulgi mumbles, making Joohyun throw her head back in victorious laughter.

"I'm his favorite person now, pretty girl. You've unfortunately dropped down to spot number two." 

There's a wistful gleam in Seulgi's eyes as she watches the interaction from afar, her cold hands finding shelter inside the deep pockets of her dark trench coat as the two laugh heartily a few feet away from her. 

"Looks like Max and I have another thing in common, then." She comments softly, making Joohyun's heart melt in her chest. 

The older girl lifts her head up and smiles at her, the kind of smile that only comes out when Seulgi was around.

"Don't worry, pretty girl. You're still my favorite." 

•••

Joohyun doesn't know how to explain it.

She really doesn't. 

When the old lady from the subway station told them that the record player was freaking _magical_ roughly seven years ago, the best that she and Seulgi expected was a mediocre speaker sound and a semi-working stylus.

Never in her wildest dreams did Joohyun think that the rusty old turntable Seulgi bought on their first date would give her back the love of her life on a drunken Thursday afternoon. 

But, then again, 

who was she to question fate? 

"Hey, pretty girl?" Joohyun calls out from the other end of the couch, fingers mindlessly combing through Max's golden fur as she attempts to catch her wife's attention. 

Seulgi peels her eyes off of the TV screen and glances behind her.

"Yes, baby?" She softly answers, stretching her hand out to grab the remote control on the coffee table, only to find herself frowning when her feeble fingers pass through the solid object. 

"Right..." She dejectedly mumbles, cradling her left hand with her right as she puts on a lukewarm smile for the distracted girl behind her. "What does my wife need, Mrs. Kang?"

The three of them were lounging about in the living room, watching reruns of Lassie on cable as John Lennon's bright vocals played faintly in the background.

Joohyun used to hate overlapping sounds, often making Seulgi turn down the radio most mornings because Park Sooyoung's voice was already loud enough to wake up old man Cosmo on the yellow house across the street. 

Their newly-registered lawyer friend frequented the couple's home because she claims that she simply didn't have the time to cook her own meals before going to work, taking full advantage of Seulgi's love for cooking and the fact that the three of them moved to the same neighborhood right after college.

Every weekday morning, Joohyun would wake up to Sooyoung at their dining table, munching on a plate of honey-coated pancakes while her apron-clad wife brewed coffee by the kitchen counter. 

She would listen to the younger girl rave on about the current divorce case that her team was handling while Seulgi would quietly cross the room, making sure to kiss the top of Joohyun's head in greeting before setting the girl's breakfast down and moving to the study to turn off the music.

Joohyun had always hated overlapping sounds, but every time that Seulgi unconsciously sang a tune right after she turned off the dusty old turntable, Joohyun could only think about how she had really lucked out in life by marrying the pretty girl in the midnight blue apron. 

Joohyun props a hand under her chin as she faces the brunette. "Where do you go when you're not here?" She finally asks. 

Ever since Seulgi showed up in their living room on the afternoon of October 16th—the day after her funeral—Joohyun has found herself in constant wonder about the things that she, before, wouldn't even think twice of. 

The younger girl tilts her head in thought as she shifts her outstretched legs on the carpeted floor. "Do you remember that place in 'The Lovely Bones' where Susie Salmon spent her days of waiting?" 

"Mm-hm. The in-between?" 

"Yeah, the in-between." Seulgi nods in confirmation. "It's like that, but only there are more spirits there like me." 

"More spirits?" Joohyun pauses thoughtfully. "So, it's like the Good Place?" 

"Yes, kind of like the Good Place." Seulgi chuckles, eyes glancing back to the rough collie running around on the TV screen as Max barks enthusiastically beside her.

The two are convinced that Max has developed some sort of crush on the celebrity dog at this point. He whines whenever they watch anything else. 

"Oh, and we kind of have our own version of Janet there, too. Her name's Ellie." Seulgi nonchalantly adds, unaware of the accusatory eyebrow on her wife's face that's raised slightly in speculation. "She's the one who filled me in on everything I needed to know and I—why are you looking at me like that?" 

Seulgi blinks in confusion as she stares at her wife who now had her arms crossed against her chest, the girl's face scrunched up in an odd grimace as she seemingly tries her best to keep herself from scowling.

"Is she pretty?" Joohyun suddenly asks, causing both Seulgi and Max to look at the girl like she had just grown two heads.

"Are you serious?" The younger girl sputters out in disbelief.

Joohyun glares at her. "It's a simple yes or no question, Kang Seulgi. Is she pretty?" 

Seulgi bites the inside of her cheek to stifle the laugh bubbling up her throat, because _come on._ Look at that adorable face!

Is her wife really jealous of an anthropomorphized vessel of knowledge? 

"She's a spiritual _computer,_ is what she is, baby." Seulgi giggles, scrambling to her feet to quickly move towards her frowning wife. 

Joohyun always had been the jealous type. 

Especially back in their college days. 

Seulgi recalls a time in her final year when Joohyun literally dragged her away from a crowd of people in the university gymnasium because they were a little too close to her for Joohyun's liking.

The older girl had already graduated then, only bothering to visit the university during Seulgi's special events. That meant that a lot of people around them were unaware of the fact that her beautiful girlfriend was already off the market.

Well, not on her watch. 

Seulgi still remembers how scary Joohyun looked when a freshman in her department boldly wiped off the red paint from her right cheek, the shy admiration in the boy's blue eyes making Seulgi fear for his dear hetero life. 

She also remembers the clear annoyance on her girlfriend's face when she drove her home afterwards, the raven-haired girl petulantly refusing to hold Seulgi's hand while the latter kept giggling in the driver's seat.

In their seven years together, Seulgi had always been the perfect person for Joohyun. Always trying her best to not give any reason for the older girl to be jealous. 

Because how could Joohyun possibly be jealous still, when Seulgi clearly couldn't be more in love with her? 

"Come on, baby, look at me." Seulgi coos in front of her, smiling triumphantly when the raven-haired girl finally spares her an annoyed glance.

"Well?" Joohyun sasses. 

"I'm not gonna lie to you, she's a little pretty," Seulgi teasingly starts, shaking her head in amusement when the older girl began to scowl at her. "but, I'm telling you right now that she's no Kang Joohyun."

Joohyun scoffs, the treacherous shade of pink on her porcelain cheeks betraying her supposed displeasure. "Shut up, Seulgi." 

"I'm serious!" Seulgi chuckles, suspending a cold, translucent hand right against the side of Joohyun's face. The girl's dark brown eyes beginning to soften under her loving, phantom touch. "No one can ever compare to you, Mrs. Kang. Living being or not,"

"Never for me." 

•••

"Wannie's calling." Seulgi speaks up from across the kitchen island.

Bowls and bowls of experimental cookie dough sprawled about the quartz surface as Joohyun rummaged through overhead cabinets in search for their snowflake-shaped cookie cutters. 

It was only the first week into the month of November yet she was already practicing pastry recipes for their annual family dinner hosted by the Baes every Christmas Eve. 

Seulgi was usually the one in charge of these kinds of things, but since the unfortunate had happened to her, the crucial task of baking edible goodies to give to the kids had now been passed on to the inept raven-haired girl.

Joohyun was a decent enough cook (for the most part), but by the looks of the their flour-covered floor and the mysterious batter splattered upon their kitchen ceiling, it was pretty clear that Joohyun needed all the practice she could get. 

The older girl pops her head out from behind the refrigerator door and raises a questioning eyebrow Seulgi's way. "What was that, pretty girl?" She asks, a little distractedly. 

Seulgi tilts her head to the side and smiles.

She doesn't tell her wife that their cookie cutters were nowhere _near_ the places she's searched in so far—the tools' place always having been in the drawers underneath the sink for as long as she can remember. Instead, she lets the girl find them by herself.

Joohyun was stubborn sometimes and also a teensy bit prideful. That's why more often than not, Seulgi doesn't help her out unless her wife directly asks her for her assistance. 

She knows better than to get in the way of _Miss_ _Independent's_ baking-tool mini search party. 

"Your phone." Seulgi points amusingly towards the vibrating device on the countertop in front of her. "Wannie's calling you." 

"Oh." Joohyun lamely breathes out.

She spares a dubious glance at her neglected mobile phone before shrugging her shoulders and sticking her head back inside the fridge. 

"Just ignore it." She unenthusiastically mumbles, causing the younger girl to look back at her in modest concern. 

_Week four,_ Joohyun muses. 

A few days short of a month since Seulgi had passed, and Seungwan still hadn't given up on her.

She appreciates the genuine effort and concern that the girl shows her in the form of daily text messages and random lunch visits at work, but in all honesty, Joohyun wishes that the blonde would take the blatant hints she's been throwing her way and just _stop_. 

It was hard enough for her to endure seeing Seulgi every day and not be able to hold her in her arms like she used to.

She didn't need another reminder that things were different now and they were never going to go back to how they used to be. 

Seulgi watches as the older girl busies herself across the room. Her bottom lip trapped between her teeth in careful concentration as she flips through the worn-out pages of her grandmother's old cookbook. 

Joohyun looked adorably foreign in her midnight blue apron that was now covered in baking powder and sugar—a sight that Seulgi rarely got to see when she was still alive—so, she stares a little longer, lingering slightly at the back of her wife's powder-coated head when she notices something different.

Seulgi smiles. 

"You got a haircut." She points out cheekily, eyes trained on the dark, messy bun on her wife's head. 

Joohyun looks back at her fondly, an impressed smile on her lips as she moves to the island sink to wash her hands. "I did. Yeri dragged me to the salon this morning when Max and I went for a walk." She explains. "Long story short, I got tricked into trimming the ends because i chose ice cream instead of ramen." 

The brunette throws her head back in laughter at that. "I don't think I even want to know the whole context of that story. Knowing Yeri, it's probably something completely random or just plain ridiculous." She comments, giggling. "Can I see it?" 

Joohyun shakes her head in amusement at the excited sparkle in her wife's eyes.

 _God_ , she'd really do anything for this girl. 

With a playful sigh, Joohyun rolls up her brown shirtsleeves to her elbows and swiftly removes the purple tie from her hair. Her silky, raven locks falling softly below her shoulders as she runs her fingers through the top mindlessly. 

Seulgi couldn't help the adoring grin spreading across her lips as she stared at her wife from across the room. 

"You look beautiful, Mrs. Kang." She mutters breathlessly. "I know I'm dead, but I swear to god that my heart just skipped a beat right now." 

The older girl laughs heartily at this, her cheeks turning a more prominent shade of pink as she rolls her eyes at the smiling girl in front of her. 

"I don't appreciate you saying such cute things when I can't kiss that smile off your face anymore, pretty girl." She says, clicking her tongue in feign disapproval. "I think that's very inconsiderate of you, Seul."

Seulgi cackles. 

"Says the girl who's wearing my apron _and_ my clothes!" She exclaims accusingly. "Come on, baby. You know that you in this _hands-on wife_ fit gives me butterflies." 

"I could say the same to you!" Joohyun giggles, shaking her head in amusement as she bunches her hair up into another messy bun. "I'm actually surprised that you noticed the haircut. It's only a few inches shorter than before so there's really not much of a difference."

"Ah, you underestimate my keen observation skills." Seulgi replies coyly. "I have you memorized like the back of my hand, my honey-sweetie-baby-darling-love." She ridiculously singsongs. 

The two look at each other seriously before bursting out in uncontrollable fits of laughter, Seulgi's statement rooting from an inside joke that they picked up from watching too many romance movies back in college. 

The raven-haired girl wipes at the bottom of her eyes as their giggles gradually died down.

"You're impossible, Kang Seulgi." 

"You love me anyway, Bae Joohyun." Seulgi counters proudly. 

"I do." Joohyun replies without even a second of hesitation, her voice just above a whisper as she looks back at her wife in absolute adoration. "I really, _really_ do."

The kitchen was silent for a moment. The only sound being _Octopus's Garden_ playing faintly in the background as the two stared at each other from across the room.

No words were spoken, but the palpable outcry of their love and longing echoed loudly against their hollowed, broken hearts. It's a bittersweet thing—what they have, Seulgi thinks.

How could someone so _near_ be so far from her reach? 

And how could someone she loves with every fiber of her being break her heart when it wasn't even beating anymore? 

Their moment of silence was interrupted by Joohyun's phone ringing on the countertop again, the piercing sound allowing them the time to let out a breath that they didn't know they had been keeping in. 

_Impeccable_ timing, Seungwan. 

Seulgi silently takes note of the exhaustion in Joohyun's eyes when they flicker down to the device in front of her. 

She knows all about it—Seulgi does—about Seungwan. 

Joohyun had already told her. 

She knows about the questionable display of affection the blonde's been showering the love of her life lately, and had it been any other person, Seulgi would just brush it off as a friend who's helping out another to cope with an unexpected loss. 

But, it wasn't any other person. It was Seungwan.

Her _best_ friend. 

She'd be lying if she said that the girl's actions were anywhere near platonic lines anymore, because she _knows_ her. And even though the situation pains her soul dearly, Seulgi just can't help but feel sorry for the other girl. 

"You're breaking my best friend's heart, you know." She comments softly, their joyous moment gone as she lets her eyes focus on the vibrating device in front of her. 

Joohyun purses her lips. "Well, your best friend should know better than to go after a married woman." She impassively replies, forcing out a smile as she resumes her previous activities. 

She doesn't like where this conversation was heading to, so she weakly attempts to change the subject in hopes that Seulgi would just drop it like they always did. But, it seems that the universe wasn't on her side today because her painfully determined wife had other plans. 

Seulgi momentarily hesitates, but eventually finds the courage to voice out an honest yet heavy blow to Joohyun's chest. 

"You're a widow, Hyun." She wistfully clarifies.

The five-letter description rang agonizingly in Joohyun's ears as she takes a moment to steady her beating heart. 

"I don't like that word." 

"But, baby _—_ " 

"Seulgi _, no."_ Joohyun cuts her off sternly, the bowl in her hand dropping carelessly against the quartz surface as she closes her eyes out of sheer frustration. 

Seulgi visibly stiffens at her tone, her sudden timidness making Joohyun feel guilt immediately wash over her like a bucket of ice-cold water being poured on her pretty little head.

Joohyun lets her body fall back against the counter behind her and lets out a sigh, arms hugging herself tightly across her chest as she speaks up once more. 

"I'm sorry." She shamefully breathes out. " _Shit_. I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean to raise my voice, i-it's just...I don't _understand_ why she's doing this. She's your best friend, for crying out loud." 

Seulgi feels her heart ache in her chest at the sight of her usually collected wife be so close to tears in front of her.

It kills her to not be able to hold the older girl in her arms anymore and whisper in her ear that everything's going to be alright. 

"Hey, it's okay. I understand." Seulgi quickly assures her, a solemn smile plastered on her face. "But, you have to talk to her, you know. She's just worried about you." 

Joohyun scoffs. "Bullshit. Sooyoung and Yerim are worried about me, too. But, you don't see them asking me out on romantic dinner dates every other day." She mumbles. "Besides, she doesn't have to worry about me because I'm more than okay."

"Baby, you're not."

"I am." Joohyun softly reiterates, feet walking slowly towards the younger girl before stopping in front of her and cupping her cheeks. "I have you and that's all that matters to me." 

Seulgi frowns at this, her cold, translucent hands suspending helplessly against Joohyun's warm ones as she looks at her wife worriedly in the eyes. "But...I'm not always going to be here, Hyun." She whispers. 

And with that, Joohyun breaks. 

Treacherous tears fall silently from her eyes as she closes them shut against Seulgi's lifeless chest.

What the younger girl just said wasn't something that she wanted to hear. 

Joohyun bows her head low as she suppresses a sob. 

"Lie to me, Seul." She manages to croak out after a while. "Tell me that you're not going to leave me again." 

Seulgi closes her eyes in despair as she bites at the bottom of her lip to stop it from quivering. "Hyun _,_ please _,_ we've talked about this. I—" 

"Please?" Joohyun pushes again desperately, eyes nearly bloodshot as she stares up at the younger girl with a sad yet hopeful smile. "I just need you to tell me that you're not going to leave me alone again, okay? I-I don't care if it's not true, pretty girl. I just need to hear you say it."

"B-But—"

" _Please_. Just this once, baby. I need you to lie to me." 

"I-I...I-I can't." Seulgi chokes out, a single tear making its way to the bottom of her chin as she reluctantly looks away. 

They've talked about this.

According to Ellie, a wandering soul can only last a hundred days in the land of the living before they leave every memory behind and move on to the afterlife. 

It wasn't something inescapable, but the ones who choose to stay behind have no hope of coming back to life in the lifetimes yet to come. They wander aimlessly on the surface of the Earth until their souls die out because of loneliness and regret.

And to make matters worse, their innocent soulmate's spiritual being would also face the same tragic fate—whether they were deserving of the punishment or not. 

Joohyun clutches a shaky hand to her chest as she wipes her tears with the ball of her hand. "I-I'm not ready, Seul. It still hurts." She whimpers. "It hurts so much." 

"I know, baby. I know." Seulgi whispers, consoling the girl as best as she could despite her own agony. "But, there's nothing we can do to reverse this. That's why I need you to be strong for me." 

Joohyun shakes her head childishly. "Can't you just stay?" 

"You know I can't."

"But, _why_?" She whines. "Don't you want to be with me anymore?" 

Seulgi chuckles at this. Her teary eyes concealing into perfect crescents behind her lids as she blows a gentle breeze on the loose strands of Joohyun's hair.

"You're the love of my life, Mrs. Kang." She tenderly whispers. "God knows how much I want to stay with you until the end of time. But, unfortunately, my days are up...and I can't be selfish. The other half of my soul doesn't deserve it." 

The raven-haired girl's shoulders slump as she lets out an exasperated sigh. She knows that what Seulgi was saying was right, but it all just... _sucks_. 

It sucks big time. 

Joohyun pouts at her wife petulantly as they both sniffle like newly-born infants from the Alps. "Sure, you can. It's just Seungwan." She jokes lightly, wiping her nose with the back of hand as she and Seulgi share a much-needed laugh. 

"That's my girl." Seulgi beams after a while.

Her eyes then hover onto the neglected device on the countertop again before she turns and smiles at the raven-haired girl suspiciously. "Now, speaking of Seungwan..." 

Joohyun immediately groans at the mention of the other girl's name. She rolls her eyes snobbishly at her wife as she walks back to her work station by the sink, quickly getting out of Seulgi's sight before the younger girl could even get another word in. 

"Not hearing it, Seul." She hollers. 

"Yah! Bae Joohyun!" Seulgi chuckles. "I haven't even said anything yet!" 

" _Yah_ , yourself! I already know what you're about to say." Joohyun points a whisk at her, accusingly. "and it's _Kang_ Joohyun to you." She playfully adds. "If you're going to shout my name, you better shout it right." 

Seulgi shakes her head in amusement at her wife's antics.

You'd think that this girl wasn't just having a breakdown on their kitchen floor a while ago.

Unbelievable. 

"All I'm asking is that you talk to the girl." The brunette mutters, earnestly. "She lost a big part of her life, too, you know." 

"Wow." Joohyun teases. "Well, that sounds a little conceited, pretty girl." 

"Oh, shut up. You know what I mean." Seulgi retorts, rolling her eyes playfully at the girl before speaking up once more. "But, I'm serious, Hyun. Talk to her. Seungwan may not be rolling in her bedsheets in absolute sorrow right now, but we both know that she's hurting, too." 

Joohyun crosses her arms firmly against her chest before looking up at the ceiling and sighing in defeat.

"Fine." She forcefully breathes out, chuckling at the way Seulgi punches a fist up in the air, victoriously. "But, on one condition."

Seulgi looks up at her. Her favorite sentence rolling off naturally from the tip of her tongue as she meets the girl's serious gaze and smiles. "What does my wife need, Mrs. Kang?" 

Joohyun shakes her head in amusement. "I have seventy-three more days with you, Seul." She softly points out. "I want you to promise me something." 

"Mm-hm. I'm listening." 

"Promise me that you'll finish those seventy-three days with me." Joohyun hopefully continues. "Promise me that every time I play one of those jumpy records of yours on the turntable that you'll still show up, with that annoyingly charming smile of yours and those eyes that make me weak." 

"Promise me that you're still going to come back to me everyday until you can't anymore. I'll play your favorite old music while you and Max dance around the house like it's a lazy Sunday afternoon." She smiles. "And promise me that you'll say good-bye." 

"Promise me that when it's time for you to leave and move on that you won't just disappear without telling me that it's the last time I'm ever gonna see you again."

"Most importantly, I want you to promise me that while you're still here, you'll allow me to love you with all of my heart. Because I'm never going to stop, pretty girl. It's always going to be just _you_."

Seulgi stares back at her in awe. "Do you love me that much?" 

"More than life itself, pretty girl." Joohyun wistfully admits. "Now, do we have ourselves a deal?" 

It takes Seulgi a moment to take in everything the older girl just said, the tears in her eyes threatening to fall against the side of her face again as she manages to nod weakly in response. "We do." 

"Promise me." 

"I promise." 

"Then I'll talk to her." Joohyun smiles softly at the girl. "I know that it means a lot to you that the two of us are on good terms so I'll be a good, loving wife and talk to your best friend."

It's the biggest smile Seulgi's shown that day.

 _God,_ how the hell did she get this freaking lucky?

"I'm so in love with you, Mrs. Kang." Seulgi beams at her, gratefully. 

"Now, this may be the most _awful_ of timings to say this, but I think I just answered Wannie's call." She nervously admits with a hand to her nape. "Hehe." 

"What?" Joohyun looks back at her in confusion, dark brown eyes blinking as she walks up to the countertop and sees Seungwan's caller ID on the screen of her phone.

"Kang Seulgi!" She whisper-yells, eyes wide as she glares at the younger girl from across the room. "I didnt say that I wanted to talk to her _now._ I've got nothing to tell her!" 

"I'm sorry!" Seulgi chuckles apologetically. "I was just looking at it and then it answered on its ow—oh, gosh. Do you hear that? I think Max is calling me upstairs." She mutters quickly before leaving the room in a haste. "I'm coming, Maximus!" 

"Yah! Kang Seulgi!" Joohyun shouts, hand covering the bottom of her phone as a voice on the other line lets out a faint _hello_. "You're so dead when I catch you." 

Seulgi throws her head back in laughter as she hovers over the middle of the staircase. "Way ahead of you, baby." She snickers. "Good luck with Wannie! I love you!" 

Joohyun shakes her head one last time in amusement before picking up the phone and shooting her wife another playful glare.

"I love you more, you freaking poltergeist." 


End file.
